1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a heat shield, composed of a plurality of elements, for shielding components influenced by temperature.
2. Related Art
The use of heat shields for shielding components influenced by temperature, such as vehicle exhaust manifolds or the like, is generally known. In the typically one-piece, rigidly connected heat shields used in this case, thermally-related changes in length of the particular component influenced by temperature may result in failure. Under the influence of temperature, exhaust manifolds in particular may expand by as much as 5 mm. This causes stress on the heat shield at the region of its attachment, which may lead to crack formation as the result of additional vibrations in the exhaust gas system.
In such cases decoupling elements are used as needed to address the referenced manifestations of failure.
A stationary heat shield is described in JP-A 2001347323 which has a sandwich structure and a plurality of uniform or nonuniform patterns having a hill-and-valley shape. This heat shield is securely connected via screws to the component to be shielded. The heat shield has a one-piece design, and is essentially adapted to the shape of the component to be shielded. The disadvantages previously described for the general prior art are present here as well.
Depending on the complexity of the component to be shielded, however, it is not always possible to provide a one-piece heat shield.